


Clockwork Setup

by simpleEnthusiast



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Commissioned, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Nyctophobia, i purposely made it kind of vague, the relationship is only if you squint!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 19:40:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14625657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simpleEnthusiast/pseuds/simpleEnthusiast
Summary: Rabbit and Zero try to set up The Spine on a date.  Will it work?  You be the judge.





	Clockwork Setup

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Clockwork The Singing Robot on Discord](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Clockwork+The+Singing+Robot+on+Discord).



> Many thanks to Clockwork the Singing Robot on the official SPG Discord for the prompt and permissions to use her fanbot, Clockwork. If you'd like to know more about them, you can view their DeviantArt page  here
> 
> All other characters belong to the owners of Steam Powered Giraffe.

"Hey!  Hey, C-c-clockwork!"  Rabbit bounded down the corridor in the manor, skidding to a stop just short of running the younger robot over.  "Zero and me, we n-need your help!"

Zero trotted up behind Rabbit, puffing steam from his cheek vents.  "It's super important! Promise!" He huffed.  "Rabbit, why'd we take the stairs?"

"'Cause you're a dummins, Z-zero.  Anyway, Clockwork, I'm tellin' ya, i-it's super-duper i-important!"

"Yeah! Super-super-duper important!"

"O-oh…"  Clockwork shuffled backwards slightly from the other two robots.  "What-t's so special?"

"It's a secret!"  Rabbit and Zero both giggled.  "But we need you to give these to The Spine!"  She shoved a bouquet of plastic flowers with a hastily duct-taped "ribbon" holding them together at her.  Oil dripped off a few of the stems and some of the petals had been glued back onto mismatching flowers.

"Yeah.  And then talk to him for a while." Zero added.  "And you can't tell him they're from us!"

Clockwork frowned.  "Are you sure I'm the right person?  I d-d-don't want t-t-to mess things up…"

"Nah, you'll do fine!  Just keep him distracted for like…20 minutes!" Rabbit beamed.  "C'mon Zero!  Let's go get the other part of the thing ready!"  She smiled, grabbing her brother's hand and speeding past Clockwork, leaving the younger bot standing alone in the corridor again.

"Um… okay?"  She pinged the Wi-Fi in the manor, requesting the Spine's location.  Practice room 3.  With a sigh and a shake of her head, she started out.

 

The manor was mostly quiet, with the human residents either out on errands or in their labs.  She would occasionally hear Rabbit and Zero's voices echo down the corridors as they put the rest of their 'plan' into motion, but she could never pinpoint them, even over the Wi-Fi.  They were just moving too fast.  The phrases 'power levels' and 'lights out' drifted to her, but she couldn't be sure what that had to do with a bouquet of flowers. 

She vented steam from the back of her neck as she stopped outside the practice room, her pinky twitching as she shuffled back and forth.

The Spine seemed to be in the process of writing a new song.  He'd hum a few notes to himself, play a brief tune on the piano, and then the same tune on his guitar, mutter to himself, and then repeat the process.

Clockwork shuffled her feet a few times while he continued before flushing steam from her system and stepping into the doorless doorway.  "Th-The Spine?"

The silver robot looked up from the papers he'd been scribbling on.  "Yes?  Oh, hello Clockwork."  He smiled at her and set down his pen.  "What can I do for you?"

"I-uhm, uh… I was-- I mean…"  Steam seeped from her vent, coiling under her wig and giving the impression that it was coming out of her ears.  "Uh…th-these are for you."  She stammered out, holding the oily bouquet out to him and turning her head away.

"Oh." The Spine arched an eyebrow, taking the false flowers and looking them over.  "Uh, thank you. Who're they from?"

Clockwork vented more steam.  "Uh……Just…someone?" 

"Uh-huh…okay, well…" He glanced around the practice room and frowned.  "I don't…seem to have… a place…to put them…"  He moved to set them on a bookcase, then a nearby table, then finally choosing to set them in his empty water cup.  "There.   That'll do."  He frowned again, moving to Clockwork's side.  "You're losing a lot of steam. Are you alright?" He asked, moving her long cable-wig to rest over her shoulder so her vent wasn't obstructed. 

"I, uh, yes, I'm alright.  I just-t-t.  This is a l-l-little…I mean, uh."

The Spine cocked his head at her.  "Is your boiler running low?"

"N-n-n-no."  Clockwork shook her head.  "It-t-t's just that t-t-t-t-talking is…"

"Oh.…" The Spine nodded, steam venting from his upper spines.  "Right, your vocal processor is sticking.  I can ask Michael Reed to come up here, or one of the Walter Workers."

"N-no, it-t-t's fine!"

"Are you certain?"

Clockwork nodded.

The Spine shrugged. "Well, if you're insistent on not logging a maintenance request, you're welcome to sit here until you feel better.  I was just working on a new piece."

"Th-thanks, The Spine."  She smiled, sitting down on a nearby chair as The Spine picked up his guitar and started plucking at the strings again.   He worked on his song for a few minutes longer before the lights dimmed, flickered, then finally blinked out altogether, plunging the two robots into darkness.

"Well,"  The Spine shrugged, ticking the brightness on his photoreceptors up a few notches until the cast two eerie, dim, green beams of light around them.  "That's not normal."

Clockwork shifted in the chair, biting her silicon lips as she hesitantly stood.  "Um…"

The Spine sighed.   "Someone probably tripped the circuit breaker in the stairwell.  Should be an easy fix."  He smiled, despite Clockwork not being able to see it.  "I'll be back shortly."

"W-Wait-t!"  She called, reaching for the silver automaton's arm. 

"Clockwork?"

"D-d-d-don't leave me here."

"It's only a brief walk.  Won't take me more than five minutes."  His brow furrowed, unintentionally narrowing the light from his eyes.  "Is something wrong?"

"I d-d-d-d-don't like the d-d-d-d-dark."

The Spine's expression softened, and he reached down, taking Clockwork's hand in his own.  “I’m sorry.  I forgot your photoreceptors aren't equipped with a bright mode.  Don't worry, the stairwell isn't far.  We can go together."

Clockwork vented steam from her neck again and nodded.  "Th-thank you."

He led her through the darkened corridor, his eyes casting twin beams of light that just barely illuminated the floor in front of them.   Clockwork kept her gaze rooted on the ground in front of her, hoping that this corridor didn't have any rugs.  Even still, she kept a vicelike grip on his hand.

"Okay...here we are."  The Spine sighed, opening the door to the stairwell and arching an eyebrow at the suspiciously cut wire hanging out of the breaker.  "Uh-huh.  Why does this have Rabbit written all over it?  You know Peter VI told us not to mess with the electrical systems!"  He called into the darkness, his eyes flitting around the pitch dark in search of their wayward sibling. Then he was quiet for a moment. "Uh…Clockwork?"

"Y-yes?"

"I...kind of need my hand back.  You know, to fix the wires…."

She glanced down to their hands and allowed herself a nervous chuckle before releasing him.  "Sorry."

He wiggled his fingers in the air to ensure his joints were still functioning before turning back to the breaker and gently twisting the wires back together.

The lights in the Manor then flickered back to life and Clockwork vented steam in relief.  "I'm sorry about your hand.  D-d-d-did I d-d-damage you?"

"No.  Rabbit squeezes much harder.  And Zero. Actually, so did Hatchworth, now that I think about it." He scratched the back of his head. "Anyway, don't worry about it. My hand has been quadruple reinforced to survive handshakes on stage." He smiled again.  "And are you alright?"

"I will be.  Th-thank you for let-t-t-t-t-t-ting me come with you."

"Anytime, Clockwork."  He nodded and started back to the practice room. 

"The Spine?"

"Yes?"

"Would-d-d it be alright-t if I continued to watch you play?"

"I wouldn't mind the company.  But all I’m doing is writing.  Not practicing or anything like that."

"That's alright."  She ran to catch up to him and was just about to slow back down when–

_THUNK!_

“Oh my god, Clockwork?"  Spine flinched as the younger robot's face collided with his chest.

Clockwork blinked a few times as she tried to ascertain what happened.  Neither of them saw a spindly, silver, hoofed leg disappear into a nearby crevice. 

She'd fallen. 

She'd fallen and The Spine had caught her.

And was still holding her up.

She quickly righted herself, steam venting from her neck in droves.  "I-i-i-i-I'm sorry…"

"It's alright, it happens."  The Spine pushed her wig back in place.  "What…what did you trip over?"

They both glanced around, but the high-pitched giggles coming from a nearby vent were quickly stifled.

"Alright GG, jig's up."  The Spine huffed, venting steam from his back.  "Come out.  You too, Rabbit."

"Aw c'mon Spine!" The little giraffe clambered out of the vent and thumped down at their feet.  "We're just trying to have some fun!"

Clockwork looked away as Zero and Rabbit came down the stairs.  "It's just a joke, Spine."

"There's no reason to plunge the manor into darkness.  What if Peter VI had been working with something dangerous?  Or if Michael Reed or Steve Negrete or the Walter Workers were home.  They don't have night vision."

Rabbit and Zero glanced to each other than down at the floor.  "But they aren't."

"You know Clockwork doesn't have night vision either."

Rabbit flinched.  "S-s-s-sorry, C-c-clockwork."

"It's okay."

The Spine sighed and vented steam from his neck and cheeks.  "Well, it’s fixed now.  But what were you trying to accomplish?"

"It was a dare.  From GG." Zero pointed to the tiny robot.

"HEY!"

"It was t-totally GG's fault." Rabbit added.

The Spine shook his head.  "I don't have the patience for this.  The joke, prank, whatever, is over.  I'm going back to working on my song."  He took Clockwork's arm and vented steam one last time from his back before leading her back to the practice room.

Rabbit poked Zero in the shoulder and pointed to the other bots' clasped hands.

 

“Mission accomplished."


End file.
